Mechanical toy



June 19, 1928. 1,674,587

- S. I. BERGER MECHANICAL TOY Filed May 14, 1925 2' Sheets-Sheet 1 Z1 2442X 22 27 I I i LT; s

55 I I o I 1 28 41 39 l W 23' I i J7 avweutoz June 19, 1192s. 1,674,587

S. l. BERGER MECHANICAL TOY Fild May-14. 1925 2 Sheet s$heet 2 gvwantozPatented June 19, 1928.

* m DF TATES SAMUEL I. ERGER', or NEWARK, ivEw EnsnY.

mncna vrcani'rov;

' Application filed May 1 1, 1925. Serial No. 30,142. I

My present invention relates to mechanical toys and more especially totoys representing an animalpropelled vehicle. p r

It is an object of the invention to provide a toy of the typementione'd, -which shallreproduce in an especially reallstic manner,

the action of a vehicle driven by a balking mule and more particularly.which shall simulate the spasmodic jerking action on the reinsby thedriver, the kicking and balking of the mule, the movement of the vehiclein a changed direction following a balk, all withthe use of aspringmotor of well known construction, and without the need for complicatedactions or transmissions and which toy shall have an easy nonbindingaction. p

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the draft animal figure'ispivoted in thills at a point to the rear of the center of gravity of thefigureand connected by or s reins to the hands of the driver figurewhich; is preferably pivotally -seated.- The motor beside actuating thedriving wheels of the vehicle operates upon a member preferably made.of'wire, including a rock shaft pivoted to the body'of the vehicle anda cranking connection with the axle at its lower end and'formed as atappet'or lifter belowthe legs of the driver figure so that in theaction, the driver figurewill 'be flipped rearward by the tappet andthrough the reins, will cause abalk of the draft animal, whichthereafter by gravity action through the reins draws the driver figureback to its" original position. Other features of constructionhereinafter described contribute to reduction in cost and to ease ofassembly.

In the accompanying drawings in which are shown one or more of variouspossible embodiments of the severalfeatures'of the invention,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the toy partly in longitudinal section,

Figure 2 is a plan thereof viewed from the bottom,

Figure?) is a fragmentary plan ofthe cart withlthe driver figureremoved, Figure 4 is a fra mentary side elevation of a modified form ofthe invention, and i Fig. 5 is a'fragmentary perspective view indicatingthe mount of therpilot wheel bracket.

Referring now illustratively shown a vehicle body repre I merely bebriefly described.

tov the drawings, I have senting a'milk cart. To the' fioor of the bodyis afiixed a inotor'fran'ie llcarrying the spring motor and havingdownward' ly extending lugs 12 constituting bearing, supports for theaxle'13 to the -free' ends of which are rigidly. affixed the 'wheelsiaqThe vehicle has thills 15 formed of a U- shaped. piece of'generallyrectangular wire near the forward end of which; is a cross; pin 16transversely through the animal figure 17 and back of its center ofgravity. The cross bar 718 of the thill' member extends through anelongated slot v'19 .in front of cross bar 16, the draft animal figurebeing,

accordingly, by gravitynormally biased downwardly at its front legs.Reins 20 through the. mouth of the draft animal and throughcorresponding hooks 21 -formed integrally withthe stampings of which thedraft animal figure ismade, exten'd'rear- Ward to the hands of thedrivenfigure 22 which is seatedin the cart. I 1

The cart body is preferably formed fro av single blank representing abottom'10, a

rear wall 23 tilted upward therefrom, side walls 24 and a footboard 25.The edges of the rear wall and side walls are connected by tangs 26thereon. The upper edge of the rear and side walls are preferablyflangedinward as at 27 to afford solidity of appearance and-eliminate freecutting-edges. Between the side wallsextends a seat member 28 which ispreferably formed of a single sheet ofimetal bent to provide a; seatproper, a front 29 and preferably a rearwardlyinclined back rest 30extending through corresponding slits in sidewall flanges 27. The seatmember has integral tangs 31 extending laterally therefrom and securedto the side wallsof'the body, and the bottom of the seat has tongues 32extending downward through corresponding slitsin the bottom and twistedto afiord' locking connections therewith. The spring motor is ofsubstantially conventional construction and need The motor frame" issecured to the bottom -of the vehicle through tongues 33 extendingthrough correspond ng slits therein and twisted as shown for lockingcoaction; I The motor cont;

prlses a spr1ng34= mounted in the frame and adaptedto be wound" by a key35 and having concentric therewith a large gear 36 meshing with a pinion37 laterally thereof, pivot- I ed in the frame and driving a segmentalsector gear 88 adapted to mesh as it rotates, alternately with pinion 39and pinion 4C0 rigidly mounted on the aXle 13.

The driver figure which is preferably of substantially conventionalconstruction is preferably pivotally mounted to the seat of the vehicle.For this purpose, the seat member has up-struck ears ll spaced bysubstantially the width of the driver body, the seat of which isinterposed between said ears and a pin 42 extending transversely throughsaid ears and through said body affords a pivot mount for the body,which as heretofore noted, is normally retained tilted forward by thetension on the reins 2O exerted by the weight of the draft animalfigure.

For moving the driver back and forth, I provide a special tappet membercomprising a length of wire, the intermediate portion 4:8 of which ismounted in cars etl struck-up from the bottom of the vehicle body, saidwire having a downwardly extending U- shaped hook 45 straddling a crankconfor mation 46 formed in the axle. The upper end of the wire isreversely bentinto hook form to provide a horizontal tappet or lifter 47immediately below the thighs of the driver figure.

It will be noted that there is no linkage between the motor and thedriver member, so that the latter will not perform the essentiallymechanical movement which in the absence of special precautions willresult from such connection. By the action of the mechanism described,the driver is given a sudden flip, which is especially realistic and byreasonof the relation of the parts, the action will be relatively suddenand snappy even when the motor is nearly run down, so that through thereins the mule is given a relatively snappy kicking or balking action.

There are further structural improvements in the toy which will now beset forth,

and which comprise the construction and assembly of the thills, of thepilot wheel and of the milk cans. v

The thills extend along the bottom of the vehicle body adjacent the sidewalls thereof as shown and pass through corresponding slits 48 in thefootboard. They are securely retained without the need for soldering orspecial handling, against removal by the metal ofthe seat member 29, thelower edge of which extends into corresponding notches 49 preferablyformedv at the corresponding parts in the upper edge of the thill memberwire. It will be apparent that by this an rangement, the thillconstruction is securely retained against pulling out of theconstruction or against pivotal displacement in a vertical or horizontalplane.

The pilot wheel 50 is preferably pivoted on the lower or inwardlyturned. pivot end of a wire bracket or support 51 which at its upper endis reversely bent into U-form 52 t-ary stamping 55 formed by dies, intogen- 7 erally semi-circular form with individual cylindrical groovesrepresenting the side walls of a succession of milk cans, to which issecured bytangs 56 a second generally flat stamping 57 havingembossedthereon, the representations of the covers of milk cans, saidstamping superposed over the upper edge of the first blank to completethe semblance of a group of milk cans. The bottom of the first blank ispreferably secured as by tangs 58 to the floor of the vehicle. The milkcan assembly is disposed immediately to the back of the seat 30 whichcloses the concave side of the first stamping 55, so that the solidappearance of a group of milk cans is realistically produced.

Gther features herein disclosed andshown in the drawings need not bedescribed at greater length, as this subject-matter is shown, describedand claimed in my copending application, Serial No. 26,608, filed April29, 1925. Among these features are the conformation of the draft animalwith pivoting legs and ears and of the hat of the driver. 1 V

The operation has been in part set forth hereinbefore and need,therefore, not be set forth at great length Itneed merely be noted thatas the vehicle moves alternately forward and backward as a result of theoperation of the segment gear 38 of the 7 motor and throughout suchmotion, the rocking of the wire 43 and the upward move ment of thetappet or lifter 47 causes the driver figure 22 at intervals to jerkbackward and to snap the mule figure upward, whereupon the latterreturns by gravity, re-

turning the driver figure to its forward 00-,

sition through tension on reins 20. At the end of a rearward movement ofthe vehicle when the same suddenly reverses to move forward, the inertiaof the rear part of the cart, causes the same to tilt rearward and toraise the thills 15 and mule figure 17 upward, until arrested by thewinding key 35 which as noted extends downward. I In the slow rotationof the winding key, the same may serve as a pivot about which thevehicle turns, so that the lattermay resume'operation forwardly in adirection otherrthan that in which the bulking had occurred. Theconstruction and operation just described is more fully set forth andclaimed in my copending application above referred to, as is also thepivoting action of the ears and legs of the draft'animal. i

It will be noted that the various construe?" tiona-l details set forthmake for low cost;

In another embodiment of the invention shown in a fragmentary view in Fig. 4:, the

figure 22 of the driver is' shown pivoted to the seat of the cart bymeans of'a pivoting tongue 59 soldered, or if desired 'securedby tangs,to the seat of the driver figure, said tongue extending through a slot60 in the seat and having an enlargement 61 below the seattoinaintainthe figure against removal from the seat,but free to pivotfor ward and backward and to sway slightly laterally. effected in thisembodiment from the pilot wheel 62. For this purpose, a rod 63 ispivoted at its lower end in an aperture 64- near the periphery of thepilot wheel and extends through a corresponding slot 65 in the footboardof the cart into the leg of the driver. The reins 20 are connected tothe draft animal figure in the same manner'as in the other embodimentlIn operation, it'will be seen that as the vehicle moves forward orbackward, the rotation of the pilot Wheel will cause the-figure of thedriver alternately to be moved back and forth to bring about thecorresponding balking action of the draft animal figure. It will also benoted that by reason of the peculiar mount ofvthe driver figure, it'mayin addition to forward and backward movement, partake of a slightlateral swaying movement which renders the operation quite realistic.

It will thus be seen that there is herein de scribed apparatus in whichthe several features of this invention are embodied, and which apparatusin its action attains the various objects of the invention and is wellsuited to meet the requirements of practical use. 7 r

As many changes could be made in the above construction and manyapparently widely different embodimentsof this invention could bemadewithout departingfrom the scope thereof, it is intended ,that'all mattercontained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawingsshall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense. i c

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a mechanical toy, in combination, a motor driven vehicle having afixed drivers seat, a figure of a driver pivotally mounted thereto,thills, a figure of a draft animal pivotally mounted near the forwardend of the The oscillation'of the figure is] thills, reins connectingthe hands ofgthe driver withfthe draft animal, and a tappetoperated-from the motor ofthe 'vehicle and arranged periodically tostrike the lower part,

of the -legs of thedriver to urge'the driver backward and thereby ausea'balking ac-' tion of the draft animal.

- 2. 111 ainechanical toy,in combination, a

motor driven vehicle .lia v'mg a fixed drivers seat, a figure of adriver pivotally mounted thereto, thills, a figure of a draft animalpivota'lly mounted near the forward end of the thills, reins connectingthe hands the driver with thedraft animalfigure, and a tappet operatedfromthe motor-of the "ve' hicle andarranged periodically to strikethef 7lower part ofthe legs of the driver to flip the 'driver backward andthereby cause a balking action of the-draft animal','saiddraft animalfigure having excess weight in front of the pivot so that it returns bya gravity action and through the reins restores the driver to initialposition.

3. In a mechanical toy, in combination, a

vehicle'having a spring motor, a seat on-said vehicle, ears struck upfrom said seat, a driver figure having its seat disposedbetween saidears, a pivotpin through said ears and driver seat for pivotalmountthereof, and means for efiecting an oscillation of said driverfigure, said means comprising an oscillator member having a rock shaftpart mounted in said vehicle frame, an eccentric at one end operatedfrom saidaxle and a lifter member at the other end engaging the lowerside of the'leg of the driver, the forward part of said seat being cutaway to permit movement of said lifter inthe operation" ofthe toy. V 1

In a mechanical toy, in combination, a

. vehicle having a fioorboard, a seat having a footboard'and roadwheels, a pilot wheel, a

wire carrying bracket therefor having a U- shaped end extending alongsaid floor board through corresponding apertures in the'lower part ofsaid footboard, the open end of said U-shaped support extending througha corresponding slot'in the footboard of the seat,

the cross bar of said U-shaped support being concealed by saidfootboard;

.5. In a mechanical toy, in combination, a

vehicle body including a unitary sheet metal blank comprising a bottom,side walls and an end wall, tangs securing said latter walls together, amotor frame having tangs secured to said bottom, a spring motor in saidframe, an axle and wheels thereon, said motor frame having supports forsaid axle.

6. In amechanical toy, in combination, a vehicle body having a floor, anaxle and wheels, side walls, a, seat member having a. floor-engagingpart, a fioorboard extending upward from the forward end of said floor,

thills comprising a U-shaped rectangular wire having the free endsthereof extending along .the floor-board longitudinally of the vehicleand adjacent the side Walls through corresponding slots in thefootlooard, said seat member extending into and having notchesinterlocking With corresponding notches in the thill members, wherebythe latter are securely retained in position. v

7. In a mechanical toy, in combination, a metallic cart comprising abody having a seat, milk cans to the rear of said seat, said milk canscomprising a unitary stamping forming a plurality of contiguous sideWalls of milk cans and a second unitary stamping forming the tops ofsaid milk cans, and superposed over, the upper edge of said firststamping, the rear of said seat closing the opening at the front of themilk can assembly. a v

8. In a toy. vehicle, in combination, a cart having a seat provided witha back, a, representation 01 a number of milk cans in said cart to therear of said seat, said milk cans comprising two stampings, oneupstanding stamping having a plurality of contiguous generallycylindrical conformations representing the sides of the milk cans, tangssecuring said member to the floor of the ve-' hiclc, and a secondstamping embossed to representthe covers of the various milk canssuperposed over the upper edge of said first member, tangs securing saidmembers together, the seat of the vehicle closing the space determinedby said side Wall and cover members. I

Signed at New York city in the county of New York and State of New Yorkthis 27th day of April A. D. 1925.

SAMUELI. BERGER.

